With the development of designer handbags, the replica market begins to boom. It seems like you can find just about any popular brand such as Gucci being sold on hundreds of websites. Problem is how do you know if the merchandise is real?
You must have knowledge of the brand and things that identify their products. First thing you must do is to visit your local Gucci boutique or authorized retailer such as Neiman Marcus. Inspect a few bags and see what makes them different than cheaply made bags. Look at the stitches, leather, canvas, hardware, and colors.
Often times you can feel the quality when you carry the bag. For example; the way it dangles off your arm and has that slouchy look. The canvas has a certain look and feel that cannot be produced cheaply because they use fine materials to make it. Your GG monogram should be evenly spaced, there should be equal amounts of GG's that go across the bag, and the G's should not be too fat (you'll see what I mean when you hold it in person). Another thing is that beige monogram canvas should have am iridescent look to it.
The leather should smell like leather not plastic. You can see a natural pattern in the leather also. On cheap fakes the leather often has a checkered look like a perfectly placed pattern because its manmade! Real leather has an inconsistent look and you can sort of see the holes where the hairs were in the skin of the animal it came off of. I hope that makes sense to you and I didn't just confuse you.
The hardware should be the appropriate color. Did the bag come with light gold or silver hardware? Was it made with different colors for the changing seasons? Overly shiny hardware can be an obvious sign of a fake. Like when you see cheap jewelry that is shiny and looks cheap.
The way that a bag has been sewn is very important. The stitching should be straight without "mistakes" such as overlapping stitches or crooked seams. Sometimes the bags have say brown stitching one season then white contrast stitching the next season. Your handles should be sewn onto the bag not glued. Things such as studs should go through the handles then canvas and from the inside you can feel where it's been secured.
The newer Gucci bags have "GUCCI" inscribed on the underside of the zippers. Sometimes there is a Gucci imprint on the leather zipper pulls for example some of the Abbey collection has the imprint. Your leather handles should wrap around the hardware and be sewn to keep together.
The serial tag this one is important. It must have one or it is definitely a fake! The serial tag should read "GUCCI made in Italy" with a copyright symbol above the word Gucci. Then under when you flip up the serial tag you'll find the number for example "162898 0688″ on two lines and there should be a curviness on the 2 in the font of the serial number. The numbers should be spaced evenly and the top line should be centered as well as the bottom row of numbers.
Now your controllato card. Is not shimmery with hologram that is how the Chanel authenticity card is. This is an obvious the bag is a replica. The controllato card is smaller than a business card and reads "GUCCI controllato 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0″ it has a gray strip across "GUCCI" and white on the "controllato 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0″. Then you've got the LA STORIA booklet with the history of Gucci in a several different languages. It also comes with a caring card. It just describes what to avoid and how to care for your bag. All of these things should come with your bag if it's new and has not been lost.
Inspect the dust bag that comes with your bag. This is important to look at also since the market has some great super fakes that look very close to the real thing. There is the silk Gucci dust bag that is brown and as the GG monogram it should be soft and somewhat thin and a little see through. These dust bags snagged very easily so they are currently made a bit different. Now they are made of a cotton blend in a lighter brown with gold "GUCCI" written across. These bags are much better; they don't snag and they're thicker too. They began using these in 07′ so the bag may be from an older season if it has the silk dust bag.
Remember that GUCCI is a highly fashionable and quality brand. Their bags are handmade and go through rigorous inspections before going to the boutiques. Every detail counts and these bags are not mass produced. That is what makes them so exquisite!
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